By Kenneth Stepp
Another year has come and gone, or is it came and went? Grammar aside, we were at this place in life a year ago exactly. What was the year like? Look in your rear view mirror and reflect on what was and what could have been. The stand outs for me are the people who were in my life that no longer are. I’m not talking about people I met and never got close to, I’m talking about those who I cared about, one I even loved. These are losses of great magnitude. Who will fill their places in my life? What will the new year bring to my door? Who?
“And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been”
– Rainer Maria Rilke
This year, I lost someone I considered my very best friend, another person I thought would forever be a part of my life, and someone close to me to death. Those were huge losses. My gains however, were great as well. I have some people in my life that matter to me that were not there a year ago today, my life is so much richer because of them. I began writing a book that flows from my pen, I joined a writer’s group and have found acceptance there. Did I win more than I lost. If math were involved, yes, but this isn’t math, it’s people. Losing one will always be a loss, one cannot replace a person, especially one that meant so much to you.
“Hope… Smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
Whispering ‘it will be happier’…” ― Alfred Lord Tennyson
Do you set goals for a new year? I seldom do. I diet every January, I rework my business plans, and I think of content to write about. These are typical thoughts I have this time of year. Example. For business this year, I will abandon my online program, phase it out. It use to work well, I survived for years because of it, recently, it has become too much work for too little money. My writing has increased, my new book has me very hopeful, and my retail business plan has a new awesome tool on it’s shelf. Life is good.
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.” ― T.S. Eliot
The past year brought many surprises. As a single person on the singles journey, I had all but given up. I was going to take another year away from dating. Then, someone convinced me to meet with them. Who knows what will happen with that, but I no longer feel alone. Is that our goal? Being single, I have set so many goals in the past and failed, at all of them. Do we simply find someone that we enjoy spending time with and run with it? Right here is where I suppose to say, “I’m going to write a book about it”, but I’ve written two already and know more about what I don’t know than what I do. This is where I rightfully say, everything has changed…
“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”
― Edith Lovejoy Pierce
Life brings new moments all the time, it isn’t just a new year, it’s a new moment, they happen constantly. Look around you. Every person is a new opportunity, everything is a new opportunity. For me, today is special, not because it’s the eve of a new year, but because it’s the eve of a new life. This can happen and does daily. There is nothing magical about new year’s day. But there is something magical about opportunity. Don’t squander it, embrace it, embrace them all. Learn to love fast and first, if they want to stay in your life, they will.
Make new friends, be a great friend and you will have a great friend. Look at your acquaintances. Can any of them go deeper? You already kind of know one another. I have, what I call, my tribe. They are 4 superhuman people who I’d do anything for. They entered my inner circle by invitation only. These 4 people are fixtures in my life as I am in theirs. We matter to one another. If I hurt, I call one, if I have a big win, I call one. We check up on one another because love is there. Grow those type of relationships. Find them, be that person others call when losing or winning. As long as I have them, I am never alone in anything. Happy New Year my friends. Embrace love this year.
“May Light always surround you;
Hope kindle and rebound you.
May your Hurts turn to Healing;
Your Heart embrace Feeling.
May Wounds become Wisdom;
Every Kindness a Prism.
May Laughter infect you;
Your Passion resurrect you.
May Goodness inspire
your Deepest Desires.
Through all that you Reach For,
May your arms Never Tire.”
― D. Simone
